A Life of Lunacy
by Space23Case
Summary: The war is over and now Luna has a bit of growing up to do, What's the point of being grown up if you can't laugh and have fun once in a while?Tragedy makes happiness hard to find, but if you look hard enough it can be found in the simplest places. A coming of age tale of a girl who is in popular opinion a little bit Loony. George/Luna
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Harry Potter It belongs to J.K. Rowling**

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Luna love good could do many things, But saying the right thing at the right moment was a particular talent of hers. She could sometimes say things that ruined a moment and made it awkward, But when she spoke at 'that' specific moment it could hit someone behind the knees and take them out quickly.

This how ever was not one of those moment, she had just distracted everyone in the Great Hall so Harry could sneak out to get some peace and quiet. She looked around and the severity of what just happened sunk into her. She looked around and her fathers face was nowhere, She did not know what she was expecting.

Luna knew her father was in Azkaban, She began to think of all of the things she would have to do to have any hope of surviving now. She lived through the war, but now she would have to live in the post war. She thought for a second it was easier for those who died and did not have to live through the lose of so many.

But she shook off the dark thought, and decided they died so the survivors could live. Their sacrifice was in no way easy and she was shallow and naive for thinking so.

She rose to her feet and began to walk towards Ravenclaw tower she was in a trance like state as she made her way up to her warm bed, She was frightened to go to sleep and dream about all the terrible things that happened in the past year.

She walked into the common room and up the girls stair case her room was destroyed, But she heard a voice from the next door down. She saw 10 other Ravenclaw girls in the room pillows and blankets spread out all over. Cho Chang waved her inside and she joined the other girls smiling politely at them. Cho offered for Luna a pillow and small blanket and she took a spot on the floor near Marietta Edgecomb.

Luna thought of her mother as she lay down recounting the Names of the men Harry said took her father to Azkaban where he was residing currently.

"Avery..., Rockwood,...Selwyn, Travers." She heard Marietta roll over as she found and comfortable position to sleep. Luna could feel a lump growing in her throat. She turned over and closed her eyes, Breathing deeply and letting her eyes roll bakwards into her head. The sun was warming her back and she was out.

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Luna opened her eyes to see the bright sky outside, It seemed to be about noon. She slept for almost 7 hours and was well rested, She rose from her spot and put on her shoes, Going into the bathroom and Washing her face before going down to Great hall. there had been many girls sleeping in her dormitory, Girls were doubled on every bed and sleeping on the floor. It was more than the 10 she had seen before falling asleep.

She walked in smiling people were gathered at the house tables, She walked over to Ginny and sat next to her. They smiled and nodded at one another, It was really calm.

Everyone was over tired at hungry and no one wanted to talk and celebrate any longer. A low sadness hung on top of the comfort making everyone not "notice" those sobbing silently randomly scattered around the room being comforted by Friends and Family.

She looked around as she scooped some scrambled eggs onto her plate, Ron and Hermione sat next to one another and Ron shoveled porridge into his mouth and Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled. Harry and George sat across from them, Harry looked deep in thought chewing on a piece of toast. George frowned and gazed down into his food in a Zombie like state.

Luna felt a tug at her heart strings, George seemed lost almost as if he had really lost a portion of his body. He was an emotional amputee, and it was written all over his face.

Harry patted George on the shoulder but George did not move he simply grimaced slightly and began to eat some of his bacon. Hermione was writing down information in a note book, She knitted her eyebrows together and continued her list.

Luna filled on pancakes and scrambled eggs both drizzled with syrup. Ginny was leaning on her Fathers shoulder and Arthur was talking quietly to Percy and Charlie. Luna felt a pair of eyes on her and looked over to see her other best friends Neville waving goodbye to her as he left the great hall with his Grandmother who's arm he was holding as he guided her over the rubble and out of the school to apparate home.

The Weasley's stood and walked toward the outside door to apparate home as well, Luna followed them and asked if she could sidelong apparate with one of the others to walk to her house and begin her search for her father.

Hermione took Luna's hand as the others paired off at the apparation points set up by Professor Flitwick, When they apparated about 3 miles outside of the Burrow they began to walk swiftly in one direction, Luna would only have to travel about another mile past the Burrow In order to reach her rook shaped home. Hermione turned to her and fiddled with her sweater obviously wanting to say something.

"Listen Luna your house kind of exploded when we where there, Harry already told you what happened?"

"No." Luna answered looking curiously over at her.

Hermione recounted the shocking story, Harry and Ron joined her explanation and many different emotions ran through Luna like fire. She knew her friends would never lie to her. The empathetic look on Hermione's face told Luna it was the truth and it was hard to say to her.

They arrived at the Burrow and She made her way across the yard and hoped the short fence, She waved to Ginny who yelled out to her.

"Come back for dinner, you can sleep in my room with Hermione and I."

"Okay, I will see you at dusk." Luna yelled back

Ginny walked up the back steps to her mother who also waved to Luna as she made her way across the vast grassy plane, The dirt road came into her site and she made her way over to it and lifted her bag onto her shoulder. When they had been walking she had her bag full and heavy and her arms full of her things. Hermione had put an undetectable extension charm on her bag and it was now light as air and the only things she carried.

it was blue and knitted with a few random pins and it hung across her chest it was all she had as of now, Luna just hoped that something was left of her house that she could load into her new bottomless bag.

When her house came into site it was crushed completely Luna took her wand out of her hair and began to move chunks on stone to reveal many scattered objects somethings crushed she riffled through piles as she stepped in what used to be her sitting room. A piece of ceiling sat on her kitchen counter it was painted with the pictures of her friends with golden letters looping and repeating the word.

It was the official symbol of the ending of her childhood, It was all over and now it was time for her to grow up and find her father. She would not give up until she knew the truth about his where about, weather it was a cell in Azkaban or 6 feet under in a field somewhere.

She collected many things that were in okay shape. She got two photo albums full of pictures of the three of them, A picture of her mother and father on their wedding day. Large Blue quilt her mother made for her, a few of her Mothers various belongings she could fix. Her fathers quibbler letter wax seal.

All of the clothes from her smashed dresser shaking of the wood and ashes and shoving them into her bag to be washed later Luna opened her fathers safe and took out his Gringotts key and her mothers wedding rings. She walked away from the house and pointed her wand at the remains of the house. it was all turned quickly to ash and spread out over the grass the hill was now barren and covered in ash, You could see the near by bench and clear across to Ottery St. Catch pole and the tall crooked building that is the Burrow.

She took a long golden chain from her bag and put her mothers wedding band on it and the other in the box and into her bag she tucked the necklace into her shirt and made her way back to the Burrow to shower and change before dinner. Tomorrow she would make her way to diagon alley to search for clues to her fathers where abouts and ask if anyone had seen him.

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When back a the Burrow she sat her bag on a third cot in Ginny's room lined up next to the window as Ginny bed and Hermiones cot were against the left and right walls. She magically cleaned her quilt and spread it out on her bed.

She walked into the bathroom and locked the door, everyone else had showered so she could take her time. She laid her clean jumper and shorts on the back of the toilet and hung her towel, Her brush was placed on the sink and she pulled her hair down out of its braid and brushed out the knots thoroughly.

Luna was thankful that her friends parents were letting her stay for a few days until she could find her father or A place to live, Now that her home was destroyed.

She stepped under the warm water and let her waist length hair get wet, She poured a small amount of shampoo into her palm rubbing it into her hair and repeated the process a second time. She then applied conditioner lightly and let it set in her roots. She lathered up and washed her face. She rinsed off and turned off the shower ringing her hair out and wrapping it up in a towel and pulling the other towel around her body. She wiped off the mirror and turned the sink on beginning to brush her teeth.

Dressed in her long sleeve gray jumper and a pair of yellow shorts, her feet were bare and she took her hair down running her fingers through it and moving it to the side slightly letting it air dry.

Ginny sat on her bed and Harry laid with his head in her lap, He smiled at Luna when she walked into the room as did Ginny, She nodded to the two of them and dried her towel folding it and putting it in her bag. She stared out of the window for a long time as Ginny and Harry whispered to one another and Ginny ran her hands through Harry's unruly hair.

Luna heard the words of an argument on the stairs, it was Charlie and George.

"George please come out dinners done you have to eat sometime."

" Leave me alone, I just want to sleep."

" Please George mom wants you to eat something, then you can lock yourself in your room again."

The sound of the door opening made Luna smile, at least he was willing to humor Molly slightly and not be completely shut off, it was a sign of healing. He was doing something for his mother meaning he realizes all is not lost.

Luna's smiled grew when she heard George's quiet mumbled apologize to his brother. She rose from her cot and Harry and Ginny stood as well and they all made there way down the stairs and out of the back door. Luna took a seat between George and Percy, Percy smiled politely at Luna and offered her a jug of pumpkin juice. George sat silently grimacing and pouring himself a drink.

The ate hot onion souped and various types of sandwich's Luna ate Turkey and Munster and two bowls of soup, She looked curiously at George as he drank from his cup.

"Can you hear from this side?"

George looked at her through the corner of his eye as he continued drinking, he placed the cup down and smiled lightly.

"Yes I can."

He looked back down at his plate and Luna continued to eat and look at George, She was happy he did not think her rude for asking such a question.

Later that night when Luna was walking to Ginny's room to get some sleep she passed George who nodded towards her and walked into his room taking one last glance at her before closing the door.

Luna's stomach felt a little odd, She shook it off. Harry and Ron passed and bid her goodnight as they made their way up to Ron's room.

Two years ago she remembered having a crush on Ron and her cheeks would flush whenever they made eye contact but it made her feel silly.

Liking Ron was a pipe dream, it was her first real crush now she could laugh about it. She walked into the room and passed Hermione who was taking her bra off and shoes sliding under her covers taking out a map of Australia and a Couple paper with information about the Australian ministry of magic.

Ginny removed her bra as well and got under her covers turning towards the wall and closing her eyes. Luna unclasped her bra and pulled her arms out removing it the same way her friends had and pulling it under her shirt , she opened the window and put up her hair in a bun before snuggling in her quilt with her head looking out of the window.

She could here Hermione shuffling papers and lulled slowly off to sleep. She woke up to the Sun shining into her face, the cool Morning air filled her lungs and made her feel fresh.

She sat up out of bed and fixed her blanket she changed into a red short sleeve shirt and some jean shorts she let her hair down and slipped on her sandals. She grabbed her tooth brush and made her way to the bathroom, She walked in and washed her face with warm water, She applied deodorant and brushed her teeth. She opened the door and came face to face with George who smiled down at her slightly and moved to the side for her to exit the bathroom.

"Good morning George." Luna said calmly

"Morning Loony." The door was closed and Luna returned her things to her bag and made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. She drank two cups of tea and talked to Mr. Weasley as she and Percy as she ate the eggs offered to her by Fleur.

"Mr. Weasley, have you heard anything of my father?" luna asked the tired looking man.

" As far as the ministry is aware he was sent to Azkaban by Pius Thickness last February." He said as he sipped his tea.

" Kingsley is going to do a search of Azkaban if he is found he will be released." Percy tried to lighten the subject.

" I heard Azkaban was destroyed..." Bill said under his breath

Molly gasped and looked at them wide eyed. "I will not have any talk like that until we know what has happened for sure."

Luna finished her food in silence and spoke to Arthur after putting her plate a fork in the sink, "Does your floo work?"

He nodded to her and she walked over to fire place ready to start her search she saw Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny rise as well and follow her to the fire place.

They flooed to diagon alley and agreed to meet at the leaky cauldron for Lunch at 2, Luna made her way to Ollivanders shop which was open once more, the streets were quiet and as empty as Luna had ever seen them. She was here once at 4 in the morning and it was about the same amount of people.

She opened the door to the wand makers shop and a pair of silver eyes looked up at her from a worn looking old man. He was sitting at his desk polishing some wands. Luna approached the man and Placed a container of onion soup in front of him with a spoon, the man smiled and pulled it towards himself.

"Mr. Ollivander I need to know if you have heard anything about my father."

the man looked slightly nervous.

" Luna, I don't think I should be the one to tell you that."

He swallowed hard and looked at the young woman in front of him.

"They found his body washed up on the shore of Azkaban, you need to go claim the body."

Luna felt her blood run as cold as ice through her veins she put her hand on top of the old mans, thank you. Ollivander had promised to help Luna find her father, when they were at shell cottage. He had claimed the girl had kept him sane during the time they spent in Malfoy manor and swore to help her.

Luna made her way numbly to the ministry of magic visitors entrance, She made her way to the front desk and was directed by a woman who looked very sad the moment Luna stated her business at the ministry.

She was directed to the department of Magical Law Enforcement , The Medical Examiner showed her the body and she had to hold back a scream as she was her father, a warped version of his old self. Bloated from the water and sickly red/purple splotches on his gray skin.

"Yes, that is my father Xenophilius Lovegood." The man put a hand on her shoulder and walked her to his office where he made arrangments for the body to be transported to her home the following day, well the hill were her home once stood.

Luna left the ministry and made her way back to Diagon Alley, She made her way to Gringotts that was having a remodel, She went to her family vault and removed 1,000 galleons. She had about 20,000 in there and her fathers life insurance policy would giver her 10,000 galleons.

She would have to get a job if she had any hope of making it on her own, She could not run the quibbler all by her self with no training she would have to find something for now.

This would be enough for a room and some food until she could find something to do to make money. She made her way to the leaky cauldron and sat with her friends as she ate, Neville had joined the group and smiled at Luna when he saw her giving her a hug and sitting next to Hermione.

Luna sat next to Harry and the waitress came over to take their order. Ron and Ginny where arguing about their quidditch teams, Ginny was red in the face as Ron continued on about how " The holy head harpies don't have anything on the Chuddly Cannons."

"The Chuddley Cannons are terrible! They came in 16th last season." Ginny snapped back

"Yeah well the Holy head's only came in 5th."

" That is still 11 spots ahead of your team!" Voices were rising and the two looked as if they were about to have a sibling brawl.

The waitress looked confused and when a moment presented it self she interrupted the arguing redheads. Luna ordered water to drink and smiled at Harry who looked like he was thinking about something sad, a look had taken over his face that was haunting almost.

Hermione placed her hand on top of his and smiled at him when he looked up at her, Luna felt eyes on her and looked up to see Neville looking at her.

"Is your house okay?" He asked politely

"It was destroyed, But a lot of things survived that I collected, the rest is ashes now. Just a hill with the tree where my mother is buried."

Ginny looked sadly at her and Luna could feel all of her friends eyes on her, it was slightly uncomfortable she did not want her friends to feel bad for her, she was happy she still had what she did.

The thought of her Father's body ran through her head and she felt tears starting to well up behind her eyes, She chocked them down and looked around at her friends smiling lightly.

" They found my fathers body, It washed up onto the shore of Azkaban, I'm going to bury him on the hill next to my mother and plant another tree for him."

Tears had sprung from Hermione's eyes and Ginny was smiling sadly.

" I think that sounds like a wonderful Idea." Hermione said whipping her tears with a tissue Ron had given her.

Luna did not talk anymore during the Lunch, she just nodded and "hm'd" as her friends kept a quiet conversation about funeral plans for the others who had been lost to the war.

Fred's was tomorrow evening at the Burrow, Next week would be a memorial service for everyone who the war had ripped from their lives.

Luna thought of George, of how hard it was going to be to watch him at his twin brothers funeral. If she was worried about the pain of watching she could scarcely imagine what he could or would be feeling.

Luna loved her parents she really did, they were her whole world. She had nothing without them, But this was different Fred and George had been a pair. They did everything together as far as she saw, She had never seen one without the other until staying at the burrow last night.

A twin, your other half. Luna was snapped out of her thoughts when Harry rose from his seat and her friends began to leave, She reached into her bag and took out her wallet.

" I treated everyone." Harry said with a small smile walking over to Ginny and putting his arm around her shoulders, Luna was glad that Ginny finally got what she deserved.

Luna had always been friends with Ginny since first year, and she had known about the crush on Harry. It was wonderful to be able to see it now, it was just very refreshing to see love surviving.

She looked at Ron and Hermione who were bidding farewell to Neville, Luna remembered crying when Ron had dated Lavender Brown it broke her heart. Even though she did not see any chance with Ronald it still hurt.

Hermione though she didn't hurt, she was Ron's soul mate. Luna had seen it in the beginning of meeting the two of them, So it never came as much of a shock or upset. Luna was happy for Hermione because they were friends and she would not let a crush ruin her friendship.

Luna saw a Daily Prophet sitting on a near by table and saw a picture of Hogwarts being rebuilt on the front, She grabbed it and stuffed it into her bag walking quickly over to her friends and flooing back to the burrow.

Her feet came in contact with the shabby rug in front of the Weasley's fire place, She made her way quickly up the stairs and sat on her cot next to the window in Ginny's room. She kicked off her shoes and sat with her legs crossed. She placed her bag on the bed and pulled out the newspaper.

She skimmed the front page and quickly turned to page E8 the obituaries, It was organized in alphabetical order. A few more names added to the list of confirmed deaths off of the missing person's list. Her eyes ran down the list quickly and she spotted more than 10 names she knew, another two names moved from the missing person's list to the confirmed deaths.

Her eyes stayed on the L's for a long time, She kept staring at the name Xenophilius Lovegood. A picture of her father smiling and waving next to his printing press. Her heart was up in her throat, seeing his body was bad but seeing his name on this dreaded list was making a cold black hole open up in her stomach and bubble it's way up to her throat. She tried with all of her power to hold back the tears, but it did not work. A hysterical Sob broke from her chest and there was no turning back. She put her face in her hand and cried harder than she had ever in her entire life.

She could feel puddles of salty tears collecting in the palms of her hand, she was silent tears leaking out not breathing, and then gasped in a breath loudly. Her body was racked with sobs she could not control herself, she was sure they could hear her all the way at Hogwarts.

Suddenly she was extremely embarrassed she could not let her friends see her like this, she had to be strong for the other who lost more that she. The sobs continued with not hope of slowing anytime soon, the breeze from the window picked up and flipped the pages of the newspaper and she automatically looked a picture of a boy smiling cheekily with his arm around the shoulder of his twin brother, Fred seemed to be staring directly at her from the picture next to his name. She quickly looked around and was relieved to see no one had seen her break down. She took some tissues from the box on Ginny's desk and blew her nose, she wiped her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

She looked at her self in the mirror and looked relatively normal, when she stepped out onto the floor outside of Ginny's room she could hear a scream coming from the next couple steps up. She walked up the stairs slowly and carefully she was followed the sound and held her breath. She came to a door with burn marks around it. It look like explosives had been set off inside. She reached her hand for the door knob and turned it quickly pushing the door open, She gasped as a wand was pointed directly at her face. The tear streaked face of George Weasley was staring back at her.

She stared into George's warm brown eyes he looked angry and slightly confused, His hand was shaking and he lowered his wand slowly and apologized quietly under his breath, Luna nodded to him " No hard feelings."

He walked into his room and didn't say anything but he left the door wide open, this was a little bit shocking to Luna still she walked into the room anyway and closed the door behind her. She sat on the opposite bed, George looked up at her and breathed a sigh, he looked at the daily prophet that was held tightly in her hand. She held it out to him and he took it skimming the front page and flipping to the page Luna herself had originally looked for.

His face fell as he scanned over the names of the deceased and his lips pressed harder together when the names began to multiply. He sighed and handed the paper back to her, and put his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry about your father." He suddenly blurted out his voice sounded horse and rough. Luna was sure he had not spoken in a while it seemed forced and difficult.

"It does hurt a lot." Luna said looking down at her feet and wringing her hands together. "But my Mother always said that the ones who we love never really leave us."

George was looking at Luna with a blank expression, he did not seem upset so she took her moment to continue.

"We will be together again one day."

George's mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something, he closed it again for lack of a response still looking slightly unsettled.

Luna rose from her spot on the bed and placed a friendly hand on George's shoulder, she made her way to the door and looked at him again before leaving.

"Their is no shame is mourning George, It makes you human."

She closed the door and took a deep breath she needed to get some fresh air and feel the sunshine on her skin. She walked into Ginny's room and got her flips flops putting her feet into them and quickly heading down the stairs leaving the daily prophet on her cot.

When she walked out the back door she walked past the porch with rusty cauldrons and old boots, said hello to the garden gnomes and felt the breeze sweep her long unruly hair to the side. It was beautiful outside it reminded her of her mother and made her smile brightly.

She began to walk to the hill where her house once stood


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Harry potter it belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

**A/N: A reviewer asked why this is rated M, and the answer is for future chapters.**

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Luna woke that morning with one thing on her mind, Her father. trying to shake away the thought of him was not working. She felt ill and had to take a few deep breaths before gathering the courage to rise from her cot in Ginny's room. Fred's funeral was today at noon the thought made her stomach do flip flops. This was all happening to quickly, She would once again get to see her other friends from D.A. Dean Thomas, Angelina Johnson, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville. But it was not going to be a visit in a way that she would have liked.

Today was going to be painful and thinking about the funeral left a bad taste in her mouth. The room was empty Ginny and Hermione had already woken up and went down stairs.

They had been kind to let her sleep in, She dressed slowly in a black sundress and left her feet bare. She pulled her hair out of it's loose bun on top of her head. She made her way into the hall and down the stairs to the small kitchen were she took a seat at the breakfast table next to Percy.

He smiled at her weakly and looked very uncomfortable, She looked across the table at Ginny who just shrugged and continued eating her eggs. Luna accepted a plate piled with eggs and bacon from Mrs. Weasley and glanced down the table at George. He refused to make eye contact with anyone. His mouth was pressed into a line and his face was colorless. Mr. Weasley patted his wife's arm when she began to whimper. Ginny looked misty eyed at her mother who covered her mouth with her handkerchief. George stood without a word, made his way up the stairs and closed his bedroom door. Luna put a forkful of eggs in her mouth as Mrs. Weasley sobbed into her husbands shoulder. Breakfast ended in complete silence after Percy also left unannounced. Luna was helping Ginny, and Hermione clean up the kitchen. While Ron, Harry, Bill and Charlie set up rows of white seats. A large surface stood at the front of the setup. A Gryffindor banner hanging in the front and some quidditch things around.

Collages of pictures of the Weasley family, and a red sweater with an F embroidered on it were also on the display. Luna stared out the window at where Fred's casket would soon lay. The heat was draining from her face as the reality of it all fell over her, It was like stepping under a cold shower. She could feel her self start to wobble slightly. Luna felt a steady hand on her shoulder and turned around quickly to see George looking at her concern hidden under a seemingly blank face. She smiled at him and turn back towards the window, she pretended not to notice the odd look he had given her. She picked up the forks she was washing and ran them under the warm water. She heard the back door close and sighed when she saw George outside with his brothers. Luna put the last of the dishes away and turned off the sink making her way out into the back yard. Where Harry and Ron were setting up many bundles of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes fire works. George was removing them from a large crate, Ginny and Hermione were laying table clothes over long rows of tables. Mr. Weasley walked out behind them floating along with him tea pots, water, pumpkin juice and coffee. Mrs. Weasley came out with trays full of finger sandwiches. As the next hour sped by faint pops could be heard and funeral guests came walking over a distant hill. Hagrid, Professor Mcgonagall, Angelina, Katie Bell, Lee Jordan, Seamus Finnigan, Alicia Spinnet, Oliver Wood, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and other red haired and freckled faces that Luna assumed were more distant Weasley's.

Neville was walking towards her and smiling at her and waving. Luna returned the greeting as Neville made his way to her. They sat next to one another in the middle of the second row of seats. George and Percy sat in front of them. A group of people all sat around as a casket appeared on the display. Fred's body lay inside cold and completely still, A small smile curved into his lips. His fiery red hair was styled in it's usual fashion.

George twitched in his seat and Percy jumped. Luna reached forward and placed her hand on George's shoulder the same way he had. She squeezed lightly and his whole body relaxed a little. His eyes never moved from the face of his twin. Mrs. Weasley could be heard trying to muffle her sobs. Sniffles could be heard all around the area. Hagrid blew his nose in his tablecloth sized handkerchief. Neville grabbed Luna's hand and held it in his own, Luna looked at him curiously but he just continued to look forward as Kingsley continued to speak. When he was finished speaking Bill rose from his seat and walked up to podium, he began to speak his voice soft, Luna had never heard him use that voice before. It was as if he were speaking to a child as they fell to sleep, She could not help but smile when she saw the love and admiration in Fluer's eyes.

Luna blinked out of her thoughts when she saw Bill sitting down. Ginny now walked up to the podium. She had swollen cheeks and eyes she must have been crying. Ginny spoke in careful sentences stopping frequently to swallow and hold back more tears. She stopped even though it was obvious she was not finished and excused herself. She walked over to her father and took a seat next to him and trying to hold back tears that were forcing there way out of her eyes.

Ron rose nervously holding a piece of crumpled parchment. He walked to the podium and began by thanking everyone for coming. He started to speak and every eye was on him, the heart felt word he shared with them made her smile widely. He really had a way with words, Luna had never failed to notice this about Ronald Weasley. Her memory of being trapped in Malfoy Manor came back around to the front of her mind. She remembered Ron who was so frazzled and desperate to save Hermione, when Bellatrix was torturing her. The display of love gave her hope for mankind. It warmed her all the way to her core and then the memories turned sour. She could hear Mr. Ollivanders hallow weak scream as he was being tortured. She would scream at them to stop and the man would turn towards her holding his wand out and then, Clapping. She looked up again to see everyone clapping and Ron returning to his seat with his ears as red as his hair. Luna took a deep breath trying to calm her racing thoughts.

It was going to catch up with her she knew it would. It made her heart beat pick up, what would her friends think of her. If only they knew the horror she had endured. What if they found out about the awful things that man had done to her. The awful things he made the others do to her. Neville squeezed her hand again and gave her a reassuring smile. Luna felt relaxed at her friends comforting. There was a faint pop from behind them, Luna turned around to see a man with slicked back blonde hair and a nicely tailored black suite. She instantly knew who it was but was not concerned at the boys presence, she thought about the odd friendship she had with Draco Malfoy.

He would come to her late in the night, and confide his fears in her and tell her of things happening on the outside. He was scared and he did many things for the wrong reason's but she thought he was not as terrible as the others. He was not cruel he could not bring himself to seriously harm another person. She remembered quickly that he did not turn Harry over to Voldemort the day she was rescued. The space on the hill he once occupied was now vacant.

Luna rose from her spot and stood in line to say final goodbyes to Fred, She could feel George behind her stiff and unfeeling. He was trying to be a wall, he had hit a point in his grieving that meant he was one step closer to normalcy. As close as will be possible for him anyway she could hear his breathing picking up the closer they got to the body. Luna for quick moment thought that George may be having a nervous breakdown. She threw a fleeting look at Hermione as she passed them gripping onto Ron's arm. Her brilliant friend seemed to pick up on her concern right away. Luna saw a look of fear take over Herminone's eyes and it was confirmed. George was indeed having a nervous breakdown. Things on the tables began to shake and then objects, food, and broken glasses and tea pots flew around. Luna was in front of the casket and she turned around to see George the moment her eyes met his there was a sharp pain in her head and everything went black.

* * *

Luna opened her eyes and groaned as she felt a small stinging on the left side of her face. She had no memory of how she got onto the floor in Ginny's room. She was on the floor in the precise spot her cot had been. Luna's mind flew to George his face red with anger and streaked with tears. She sat up quickly and grabbed the side of her head she had to balance herself. She rose from the bed and began walking towards Ginny's bedroom door, She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and gasped. She had three small jagged cuts on the left side of her face above her eye. They looked to be recently healed. When she looked out side she saw it was roughly 8 am. Had she been asleep for an entire day?

She heard voices outside and ran to the window looking out of it at the back yard. She saw Ron talking to a short red haired boy and beautiful white tents where set up outside, to say the least Luna was confused. She did not know what seemed so familiar about the set up outside. She had a funny feeling she had seen it before. The door to Ginny's room opened and the head of red hair that walked into the room almost made her lose consciousness again. Fred Weasley stood before her, dressed smartly in a vest and tie. "Luna listen I can tell you this once and only once."

Luna nodded silvery eyes as wide as dinner plates as she stared at a very alive looking Fred. "Everything happens for a reason George needs you." "George?!" Luna said still confused at the things she was seeing. "He needs your help, promise me Luna!" His eyes were pleading Luna bit her lip and hesitated. "What does he need my help with?" Fred now looked a little bit uncomfortable.

"He's not really in his right mind." I need you Luna to make sure he doesn't do anything drastic." Luna looked up at Fred her eyes wide again. "What do you mean drastic." Fred knitted his brows together and took a deep breath. "You can help him Luna." He said but his voice was beginning to sound further away by the second. Luna felt the world around her become fuzzy and suddenly everything was black again. She opened her eyes and saw the clouds in the afternoon sky. The grass felt soft below her and she could see Hermione kneeling over her healing her face. She could feel something sticky over her left eye and she just assumed it was blood. She sat up to see George sitting with his head in his hands a few feet away, she looked around most of the guest's had disappeared. She sat up quickly and thanked Hermione who looked a little bit shaken.

Luna allowed her friend to help her to her feet and walked towards George, a sharp pain was throbbing in the side of her head. His head was still in his hands even when she stood directly in front of him. He lifted his head slowly and looked at her, he still had tears streaming down his face and he looked painfully tired. "I'm sorry Luna." he looked down at his feet again hanging his head in shame. Luna placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "How did you do that?" she asked with no anger in her voice which seemed to take George by surprise considering he just accidentally gave her a face full of glass.

"I don't know I just couldn't control it." He raised from his seat his pride obviously wounded by the public display of emotion. George walked towards the house and in the back door, Mrs. Weasley eased Luna into a seat and finished cleaning her face.

* * *

It was cool outside Luna could feel the summer night air coming in Ginny's bedroom window. Her head still hurt a little, but she was not concerned about the dull ache in her skull. She kept seeing George's face every time she closed her eyes. Pride wounded and angry, tears streaking down his face. The worst part was the humiliation. George had a look of being mortified in his eyes at the lose of control. Accidental magic was not common in adults, it was more of a childhood thing.

Luna heard a door open and close and someone descending down the stairs. Luna had a hunch she knew who it was and rose from her bed quietly sneaking out of Ginny's room a quietly as possible.

She made her way down the stairs to the sitting room and saw George walking towards the door dressed for travel with a rucksack and a suite case. "George where are you going?" He turned around and looked at her wide eyed at being caught. "I just can't be here anymore." Luna felt anger rising in her chest. "You're just going to leave like that?!" she moved closer to him and he backed up slightly at her aggression. "Did you think to tell anyone, Imagine how they will feel if they wake and you are just gone?" George looked down at his feet in shame and back up Luna. "I just wanted to get out for a while." Luna breathed out a sigh. "It...It's, you can't leave like this." Luna looked down and fiddled with the bottom of her shirt. "If you want to leave you should tell them properly." George took a few steps forward and placed his ruck sack and case down on the couch. "Would you like to go for a walk with me?" Luna looked up surprised to see the hand offered out to her.

She took his hand and they walked out of the front door of the burrow and down the walk way. George let go of her hand and they walked in silence. The moon was high in sky and the slightly chilly breeze gave Luna goose bumps up and down her arms it felt wonderful.

They walked over a large grassy hill and they were making there way towards Otter St. Catchpole. The street lamps were light but the town was quiet and everything was dark except for the church. "How are long are you going to stay with us." George said casually, Luna was taken a back a bit, she did not expect him to be conversational. "Well, until I can find somewhere more permanent I suppose." George nodded and continued walking towards the center of the town. "Did you have a problem with it or something." Luna said feeling slightly embarrassed that she was causing irritation. "No, no nothing like that, I was just curious." He took a deep breath and continued on "I saw that your house is gone, I used to be able to see it through my bed room window." Luna smiled sadly and look down at her feet. "I'm going to bury my dad there tomorrow, next to my mom I mean." George looked at her curiously and she moved forward pulling his hand into hers and smiling up at him. "I could come if you would like." he said looking to the side slightly and was pretending to look at the scenery. George picked a fuzz off of his jumper and flicking it away. "You know, just because you were there today." She smiled and looked up at the clear night sky. "Yeah I think I would like that a lot."

When they reached the church George walked into the grave yard letting go of Luna's hand again and walking over to a small fresh headstone, It looked much newer than all of the others and the dirt was pressed neatly over it. He stood in front of the headstone and began to speak. "Hey Freddie, sorry I didn't say goodbye before." he cleared his throat and was silent for a moment. "But, I realized I don't want to say goodbye, I'll never say goodbye to you." He smiled sadly and was trying to hold back tears. "Because we'll be together again one day. A friend said that to me, so I decided I'm just going to say, see you." Luna felt a warmness flow through her veins and was suppressing a smile. George stood still for a long moment and then made his way back towards Luna. They walked back the same way they came, out through town square. Into the grassy hills and to the Burrow's front porch. George opened the door and offered Luna to step inside, He grabbed his bag's off of the couch and they both made their way up the stairs. Luna stopped and Ginny's door and George continued up the landing only to stop in front of his door about 6 feet away.

"See you." Luna said before opening the door and walking into Ginny's room. She heard a mumbled "see you." from the hall as George opened his door disappearing in to his room as well.

She made her way to her cot and kicked off of her shoes, she could hear Ginny snoring slightly and Hermione shifting in her sleep. Luna lied down with her head on the pillow. She gazed out of the window and at the moon that was slowly making it's way west as the sky began to lighten on the other side. Predawn was fast approaching. She closed her eyes and sighed contently letting the soothing sounds of her friends even breathing to lull her off to sleep.

Luna woke that morning and found a pair of black pants and a black t-shirt to wear for that day. The day she had been dreading, for some reason she did not feel quite as scared as she had yesterday. She pulled her hair up and put her bag across herself, Her wand was tucked safely behind her right ear and she was ready to do this.

* * *

At the table she ate blueberry pancakes and drank orange juice, she took a seat next to George who seemed to have opted for silence again. His mother was fussing over him telling him to eat at least some toast. George simply took a small bite from a piece of toast and sipped his coffee quietly. Harry looked at Luna and offered her the jam for her toast. "Later when we are done, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and I are going to go start cleaning out my god fathers house, do you want to come and help." Luna grinned brightly at her friend excited that she was being involved. "Of course I would love too." The meal continued in low conversation about upcoming plans for reconstruction on the ministry and Hogwarts.

When they were done Luna and her friends made there way to the hill where her house once stood. She felt a pain in her chest when she saw the empty space the grass growing in quickly and the willow tree under which her mother was buried plush with hanging green leaves. Luna pointed to the spot just to the left of her mothers marker. The trunk of the tree had neat cursive words carved into it. George, Ron, Harry, and now Neville who was walking up towards them waving all carried shovels. They dug up a deep and wide hole were Luna had gestured towards. Ginny and Hermione waved there wands and an apple tree began to rise from the ground above the hole next to her mothers Willow. It grew tall and strong and had plush green leaves as well. A man appeared next to them and offered a few papers for Luna to sign before waving his wand and a mahogany wooden box appeared and hovered over the hole.

He left with a quick nod to them his eyes lingering on Harry for a moment, Luna waved her wand and the box descended slowly into the ground she covered it with the earth neatly and regrew the grass. She carved the deathly hallows symbol into the tree with her wand, the penmanship matching that on her mothers tree. "Here Lies Xenophilius Lovegood, born June 2nd 1960 died May 1998." Luna pointed her wand at the bench still standing on the opposite side of her mothers tree and moved it directly between the two.

She smiled towards her friends and sighed. "Should we go now?" They nodded in agreement and Luna looked up at George curiously. "Are you coming with us to help clean?" George shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I think I'm going to head home actually." He turned with a wave to everyone and began to walk briskly towards the Burrow. She looked at Neville who smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to head out too, be careful." He eyed all of them with a smile and disappeared on the spot.

Luna grabbed onto Ron's forearm and he held Hermione hand, Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and they disappeared as well. They were on the front step of Number 12 Grimauld Place, Luna remembered coming to this place after her 4th year when the D.A. Broke into the ministry.

They walked in the house and Mrs. Black began to wail at the sound of the door opening. "Mudbloods! Blood traitors in my house!" Harry groaned and he and Hermione pulled her curtains closed. "The first thing we need to do is get rid of that." Ron said gesturing towards the portrait. They tried many different methods to take it down but it did not budge. "Sirius said they used a permanent sticking charm remember?" Hermione said with irritation evident in her voice. "Well why don't you just cut out that part of the wall and then fill it magically?" Luna said as if it were very obvious what they should be doing. It worked Hermione cut the piece of wall out carefully and left a large opening in the wall. She moved to fill it and Harry stopped her saying her liked it like that. Ginny laughed at him and he just smiled at her flirtatiously making Ginny's cheeks flush a pleasant pink.

They did cleaning spells all over removing everything that was in anyway suspicious of being dark objects. Luna was repeatedly using cleaning charms on the windows each time making the outdoors a little more visible. Ginny was removing the long dark curtains and Ron was cleaning the carpet sneezing as dust was pulled from it and landed in a garbage bag. Around 2 pm Ron and Hermione walked to near by muggle shop and got the 5 of them lunch. They ate in the newly cleaned kitchen the windows were bright and shiny letting sun pour into the room in the most wonderful way. The sitting room was arranged nicely they kept some of the old furniture putting newer touches on it. The thick dust covered rug was gone and the walls were washed smartly. Luna felt satisfied with their efforts.

After lunch they made there way up the stairs and began on the first floor bed rooms. By 9 o'clock that night they were finished with all four floors of the house, everything that was not being kept had been removed all of the windows were clean. New layers of paint coated every room, they fixed the walls in Sirius's old room and Harry made it his. The house looked wonderful, the old things that still stood in it made it look like something out of the 18th century.

* * *

When they arrived back at the Burrow Luna felt like her legs were 10 times heavier than normal. She was completely tired out, They walked into the kitchen to be greeted by Percy sitting at the table sipping tea. "Mum left soup on the stove just heat it, oh and there's bread on the counter." They all ate bowels of chicken and dumpling soup with slices of buttered bread. Ron and Harry made their way up to Ron's attic room and Hermione yawned as she opened Ginny's door and was followed in to the room by said girl. Luna excused herself and walked towards the bathroom.

She washed her hands and dried them off thoroughly, She stood in front of Ginny's door and kept her hand just in front of the door knob. She sucked in a quick breath and turned around walking up the landing to George's door, She raised her hand before she lost her nerve and banged her knuckles twice on the door. She heard nothing and turned around to walk back to Ginny's room. Luna was halfway down the landing when the door opened behind her and George peaked out. "Oh," was all Luna could think to respond to his questioning look. "I was just wondering if you were feeling alright." A small smile played it's self on George's lips and was gone in an instant. She was not sure if she had really seen him smile or just imagined it.

"Come on in." He said walking away from the door leaving it ajar. Luna walked up the landing and settled the butterfly's in her stomach as she reached for the door walking into the room and clicking it shut behind her.

George sat on his bed and Luna took a seat on the other, she glanced out the window and saw a perfect view of where her house had once stood. She smiled at how peaceful the trees looked next to one another blowing lazily in the wind. He cleared his throat and Luna looked up at him in surprise. "George I would like it if we could be friends." She blurted out before she could think.

The room remained silent for a minute and she heard a noise that took her by surprise, it happened quickly but she could have sworn he had laughed. "We are friends Luna." Her insides swelled with excitement and she knew it was silly to be so excited about something so mundane but she felt like something wonderful had exploded inside of her.

Luna tried to ignore the butterfly's that were traveling up and down her chest and stomach. "Did you finish your cleaning?" George said breaking her from her thoughts. "Oh, yes it really does look wonderful." he smiled at her slightly and looked back down at his hands seeming to have nothing else to say. "Where did those burn marks on your walls come from?" she had said the first thing that came into her head. "Experiments." He answered simply. Luna nodded in thought of course there would have been some trial and error in order for He and Fred to create all of the interesting things they did.

"Have you ever created something on accident?" She said leaning her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her hands. He looked lost in thought and them smiled in a slightly mischievous way that made a jolt run straight through her. "Well Peruvian instant darkness powder is the by-product of all of the things in skiving snack boxes." He rubbed his chin and looked at her, they made eye contact, and it was not like the other times. His warm brown eyes were making heat pool in her stomach. Her face flushed and she realized very quickly that it was quite possible she had a crush.

* * *

**Reviews anyone?**

**Love always, Space23Case.**


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